September 29, 2010

If you give it, will they come? Rays to hand out 20,000 free tickets: In response to the bad press created by Monday night's comments from David Price and Evan Longoria, the Tampa Bay Rays just announced that they'll be giving away 20,000 tickets — free, gratis, no charge — to Wednesday night's game against the Orioles at Tropicana Field.

It's all around embarrassing for Tampa. The fans in Tampa should be ashamed of the lack of support they have shown this team. I've defended Tampa as a baseball town before, but the lack of fan attendance has just gotten so bad, that I can't anymore.

I think this is a more inflammatory statement then the remarks made by Evan Longoria and David Price about fan attendance. The fact that you have 20,000 tickets to give away free that doesn't impact your regular attendance is a sad commentary on Tampa Bay.

I think its time that MLB consider moving the team to a better market, one that will show appreciation for a hard working successful team.

They still have the issue of home field and who they play in the first round.

Based on the way teams have played out the string in years past and the high degree of randomness of postseason play, it appears to me that most managers/teams do not take the home field and match-up considerations particularly seriously.

Hopefully this isn't one of those situations where the Rays get no support all year, start making a impressive playoff run, then we have to endure sites of stadiums full of rabid Rays fans with rally or monkeys are some similar, annoying novelty.

Hopefully this isn't one of those situations where the Rays get no support all year, start making a impressive playoff run, then we have to endure sites of stadiums full of rabid Rays fans with rally or monkeys are some similar, annoying novelty.

Crawford is probably going to leave on a big deal with a big market team.

Pena is having a TERRIBLE year, so he won't be in too much demand.

Soriano and Balfour are interchangeable. If you can sign one, you don't need the other, so let Soriano go and keep Balfour as your new closer.

Bartlett came back to earth this year, so I can see where Brignac could slide into his spot if Bartlett asks for too much money in arbitration. In any case, Bartlett only made $4million, so his arb value won't be outrageous.

They'll pay whatever it takes to keep Garza, so he's not going anywhere.

Upton is a nice player to have, but I can't see arb being TOO expensive for a .757 OPS player with numerous attitude issues.

Tampa's biggest off-season problems rest with the Yankees. They have been NY's chief rival in the American League for the past few years, expect the Yankees to stick to their practice of spending freely to weaken their competition and better their own chance of success.

I can't tell you how hard I just laughed at the two DJ Kitty videos linked to by NoMich above. Although it was fitting that the DJ Kitty looked as disinterested in the whole thing as the alleged fanbase.

Tampa's disinterest is pathetic. Other cities would love to not only have a team, but one that has done pretty darn well the last few years- the Tampa ownership has done well by its team and its city. This is after all a team that nearly made the World Series just a couple of years ago, and is in the playoffs as the likely AL East winner this year. If you have 20,000 tickets to give away at this point, that's embarrassing to the city more than anything- clearly, they just don't care about baseball.

That's a little unfair. They've been around for 12 years and hadn't had a winning season until 2 years ago. Moreover, there are plenty of transplants in Florida who are fans of other teams. You can't expect 3 years of winning to create an insanely loyal fanbase.

Not that they should need to give away 20,000 ducats, just saying be realistic.

Tampa's biggest off-season problems rest with the Yankees.....expect the Yankees to stick to their practice of spending freely to weaken their competition and better their own chance of success.

The playoffs haven't even started yet and people are already blaming the Yankees for Tampa's woes. Give me a break. There are other teams more than willing to spend big on players, from the Red Sox to the Mets, the Dodgers, Angels, Phillies, etc. Are fans staying away from Tampa games because the Yankees spend too much? It's sad the Rays are in a situation like they currently are, but they have a chance to win a World Series, and they've been one of the best teams in baseball recently. They've had, and continue to have, a good run.

Yeah, it's pretty pathetic. I mean, one can almost apologize for 2008 since it was a bit of a surprise, but this team was predicted to be good and has been great since May. If you're not going to support a winner, you're not a MLB town.

There are such things as ebb and flow, but this seems pretty transparent to me. They aren't that into it. Too bad. The Rays aren't just winners, they're a fantastically exciting team who plays a throwback brand of ball. It's fun to watch as a baseball fan, let alone a Rays fan.